The recent declaration that Congress will attempt to repeal health care reform passed last year, along with other obstructionist ditties, leave me a bit off kilter going into my vacation next week. Last month I took an emotional intelligence test and got my debrief this week. To be candid, it revealed I spend too much time in Joy and Love,...
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How U.S. health reform efforts offer a new understanding of an age-old leadership problem: preservation of the status quo over and above innovation for the greater good. With today’s signing into law of Obama’s long-awaited “health reform,” I find myself wondering why people leading our largest corporations, and the elected officials who regulate them, are so prone to tinkering with...
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1) Government leaders get back to the best, most ethical, positive spark of what drove them to want to lead in the first place. 2) Corporate leaders learn lessons from the current economic situation: for example, the business value of ethics, self-awareness, kindness, and the negative return on investment of greed and excess. They get back to "capitalism with care:"...
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Yes, our elected officials have been paid for by the insurance and pharmaceutical industries. Yes, there's dis- and misinformation flooding the media. Yes, people are confused, overwhelmed, scared, and apathetic. Yes, there are going to be problems and unknowns with anything that passes. Yes, Olympia may vote against it. But now is the time. It's time we find the strength...
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Lessons from the Great Recession of 08-09. Many organizations like to say that their people are their most valuable asset. Yet in the real world, and from an accounting perspective, people are viewed as expenses rather than assets. This drives bust and boom cycles of hiring freezes, layoffs, unemployment, and then wasteful rehiring. The truth: you’re my most valuable asset...
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18 Factors for a United States leadership role in health care. When beginning an initiative, it’s important to design the end state first. Some call it vision. Others call it target environment. Why? If you jump to the details, the funding, or the “how” of it too soon, particularly when the issues are as complex as those related to health...
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With the "bank testing," and the results thereof, being done by the Federal government in recent weeks, I want to remind folks of an OpEd I published in the Christian Science Monitor (no affiliation with the religion--they've been kind enough to publish a number of my pieces) on this topc. Financial Firms Need 'Nutrition Labels' was published last October, and...
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Considering the recent regulatory meltdowns over Credit Default Swaps, Madoff, and less-publicized failures at the FDA, it's clear that leadership in overhauling regulation itself--something way beyond tinkering with old rules--is long overdue. Regulators—folks working for the FDA, FCC, the SEC, DOE, and so on—are the referees of commerce. Regulations are the rules of the game. We need to think in...
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From a leadership standpoint, failure can be a wonderful teacher, yet failure denied cements problems in place, for which insurance conglomerate AIG is the latest and most toxic poster child. Take a look at results: AIG is producing no new ideas/strategies, no new public value (in fact, just the opposite), and no tangible success or achievement in the marketplace. In...
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I'm thrilled that Bipartisanship is beginning to return to Washington! What did you say? I’m crazy? I hear you: watching the Sunday morning news shows today I was about to start beating my head against the more-of-the-same wall until I realized: Hey, dude: leadership needs engagement, and not agreement. So our elected leaders who engage in smart and open conflict...
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Step out of the cockpit of your leadership for a moment and take a look at how the trip is going. Turbulence, storms, navigational changes, difficult crewmates / passengers, and the need for acceleration or deceleration are the facts of life. Yet, if you’re a leader, then you’re at the helm, whether or not you’ve got a firm grip on...
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"Shame!" says President Obama to lard-slurping CEO's. And yet, many wonder. . . What could posses the head of a sinking multi-billion dollar firm to spend tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars to remodel a bathroom in the executive suite? What could possess a multi-billionaire to commit suicide because they're worth a billion less than they...
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(Author's note: this is a revised version of a previous post. I received some great and critical feedback, which, hopefully, is reflected here.) Whether you recently lost your home or your job, had a pay cut, had to run up your credit, or can't get a loan, most of us are reeling from the breakdown of our economy. Our heads...
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1) Government leaders get back to the best, most ethical, positive spark of what drove them to want to lead in the first place. 2) Corporate leaders learn lessons from the current economic crisis: for example, the business value of ethics, self-awareness, kindness, and the negative ROI of greed and excess. They get back to "capitalism at its best:" innovation...
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Barack Obama has been elected with a mandate for a new kind of leadership. Here's my vision of the type of leadership framework needed to enable President Obama and his executive team to achieve the many important goals in the years ahead: There is tremendous candor, trust, and healthy conflict among the Obama executive team. They are responsible for how...
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What is the true nature of the choice on the ballot before us? In these crazy final days before the presidential election, the campaigns are furiously trying to put it in stark contrast. They are piling on false comparisons: "It’s about hope versus fear," "experience versus danger," "ready for office versus learn as he goes," "more of the same versus...
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Admit it: with 26 months of scalpel-sharp talking points and weasel-worded promises, the campaigns have worn you down. Given the prolonged tsunami of campaign mud ("Socialist! Terrorist! More of the same!"), and pandering ("We’ll do healthcare for all, lower taxes, fix the economy, and end the wars at the same time!"), it's no wonder the polling numbers are so close,...
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